Why do nerds love East Asia so much?

[Yora]

According to stereotypes, East-Asia is Nerd-Nation.

 

[Sacrosanct]

These conversations always bother me. We're talking about nerd culture loving East Asia, right? Not society in general? It bothers me because we nerds like to think we're smarter or more informed than most people, but then we make statements like this whole thread. A generalization about East Asia. China is not Japan, and Japan is not Korea, and Korea is not the Philippines, etc. Nerds don't "love East Asia culture." We like parts of certain cultures that happen to be in Eastern Asia, then change our mind to a completely different culture while acting like it's all the same.

Loving the Shaolin monk in the 70s, then moving to everything ninja in the 80s (two completely different cultures). Korea often gets overlooked completely when talking about East Asia. Not only is it a mistake to conflate them all together, one thing I learned really quickly while living in Korea was that a whole lot of Korean loathed the Japanese and understandably do not want any part of their culture conflated with Japanese culture (since the Japanese tried not once, but twice to wipe out Korean culture).

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Loving the Shaolin monk in the 70s, then moving to everything ninja in the 80s (two completely different cultures). Korea often gets overlooked completely when talking about East Asia. Not only is it a mistake to conflate them all together, one thing I learned really quickly while living in Korea was that a whole lot of Korean loathed the Japanese and understandably do not want any part of their culture conflated with Japanese culture (since the Japanese tried not once, but twice to wipe out Korean culture).

....not sure that is accurate. Between K-Pop and K-Dramas and an amazing film industry, Korea is where it's at now, and has been for at least the past decade.

 

[Sacrosanct]

....not sure that is accurate. Between K-Pop and K-Dramas and an amazing film industry, Korea is where it's at now, and has been for at least the past decade.

I'm old, I don't keep up with pop culture over the past decade or so

But you're right. In recent years, Korea certainly has exploded in popularity with film in particular. I was speaking more of in the RPG context.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

In recent years, Korea certainly has exploded in popularity with film in particular. I was speaking more of in the RPG context.

I'm not sure about TTRPGs, but Korea has a huge presence in MMORPG market, like Ragnarok Online I used to play and newer stuff I'm sure people younger than me are playing. And hate or love it, MMORPGs do affect how people plays and design TTRPGs, hence why terms like "tank" are used by some when discussing D&D classes even if it doesn't fit. (I digress, and as a disclaimer, I'm aware it's not a Korea thing only and that World of Warcraft exists)

 

[aco175]

I'm not a young man, so of course I'm a survivor of the Great Martial Arts Crazy of the 1970s and 80s. An era where the coolest kids had Chinese throwing stars and Todd, the 9th grader who smoked, had some nunchaku he was just waiting to bust out to take care of some fools if necessary.

Growing up in Massachusetts, big brother does not trust us with ninja stars. Must have been a rash of killings back in the 70s using stars to outlaw them, but I could not find anything. Same for fireworks. We had to make out own from soup can lids and old lawn jarts.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

These conversations always bother me. We're talking about nerd culture loving East Asia, right? Not society in general?

Correct. While there have been moments where general American pop culture went briefly crazy for Asia or Japan, the enthusiasm among geeks has been consistently higher for decades.

It bothers me because we nerds like to think we're smarter or more informed than most people, but then we make statements like this whole thread. A generalization about East Asia. China is not Japan, and Japan is not Korea, and Korea is not the Philippines, etc. Nerds don't "love East Asia culture." We like parts of certain cultures that happen to be in Eastern Asia, then change our mind to a completely different culture while acting like it's all the same.

Enthusiasm doesn't necessarily equate to understanding, by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Growing up in Massachusetts, big brother does not trust us with ninja stars. Must have been a rash of killings back in the 70s using stars to outlaw them, but I could not find anything. Same for fireworks. We had to make out own from soup can lids and old lawn jarts.

If you can make fireworks out of canned soup, you are wasting your time on ENWorld.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I'm not a young man, so of course I'm a survivor of the Great Martial Arts Crazy of the 1970s and 80s. An era where the coolest kids had Chinese throwing stars and Todd, the 9th grader who smoked, had some nunchaku he was just waiting to bust out to take care of some fools if necessary. I think this craze was precipitated by the influx of motion pictures from both Japan and Hong Kong, China. Both countries had fairly robust film industries following the Second World War and were able to find audiences here in the United States. And let's face it, some of these movies were really cool. Have you ever seen The Five Deadly Venoms? It's awesome! Japan in particular had many cartoons that were easy to translate for American audiences. In the 1960s Japanese like Speed Racer, Astroboy, and Gigantor were fairly popular.

If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say we like East Asia because they're the ones that sent us all those movies, cartoons, and comics.

For realz. I remember when Kung Fu became popular on TV (whitewashed as it was, but that's a different story) and then the next year Enter the Dragon came out. After that, the gloves were off. It was very chic to get involved in martials arts from many Hollywood action stars.

Then the 80s started, and it seemed to change from Kung Fu to ninjas. Ninjas everywhere. Especially white men as ninjas being trained by "mystic" Japanese old men. Even white-clad ninjas, because nothing says secrecy and infiltration as a white suit in a jungle.

And as a geek and a nerd? Who didn't want to play Snake Eyes? (1982).

Man, the early 80s was a great time to be a nerd, because anything went. Lasers, ninjas, and dinosaurs? Yep. All together? Yep.

(and yes, I did in fact have throwing stars and nunchucks. But I didn't smoke lol)

 

[aco175]

If you can make fireworks out of canned soup, you are wasting your time on ENWorld.

That is what the Army told me.